…Widow restrains move, seeks N6b from IG, in-law

By Joseph Erunke – Abuja

A protracted battle between the family of late business mogul, Victor Ekwerekwu and his widow, Mrs Ndidiamaka Ekwerekwu, over the paternity of a nine-month –old baby, Chidera, has compelled the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to order that the child be subjected to a DNA test.

The businessman died in October last year, under what his family described as suspicious circumstances, with his body still at the morgue, following a dispute over his death.

His family had petitioned the Police Chief, claiming that late Ekweremadu’s widow, Ndidiamaka, brought the baby after her husband’s demise, claiming he was theirs.

They also claimed that the deceased never had any child with his widow in their 18 years of marriage, alleging that the widow proceeded to the probate registry, where she registered the child formerly known as Ezenwa Onochie Ekwerekwu, as next of kin to the deceased.

On receipt of the petition, the IGP ordered the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, Unit headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Abba Kyari to investigate the cause of the businessman’s death and ascertain the paternity of the child.

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Consequently, the widow was arrested alongside one Miss Hellen Ogbunankwo, in whose possession the controversial baby was found. As part of investigation, a DNA test was requested to be conducted on the baby to ascertain the paternity.

But Ekweremadu’s widow through her lawyer, C. Obikwelu in Onitsha, Anambra State, has instituted a suit at the Anambra State High Court, Onitsha, against the Police chief and her late husband’s family, seeking a restraining order to carrying out the test on the child.

She argued that the act of subjecting the child to a DNA test “amounts to slavery, servitude and degrading treatment which is a gross violation of his fundamental rights as enshrined in Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”

She prayed the court presided over by Justice D. Onyefulu, to declare any result arising from the paternity test a nullity, just as she prayed that she be paid the sum of N6 billion in damages by both the police and her late husband’s family for subjecting them to the test against their wishes.

Vanguard News Nigeria.